


Little Words of Comfort

by LeapAngstily



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Fluff, Gen or Pre-Slash, Language Barrier, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 05:01:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2415875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeapAngstily/pseuds/LeapAngstily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adil and Keisuke may not understand each other perfectly, but they understand everything that is important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Words of Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Written because [these guys](http://galapagoss.tumblr.com/post/98527178727) are [OTPing like whoa](http://galapagoss.tumblr.com/post/99223450532).
> 
> I also remember reading an interview sometime in last January/February, where Adil said he didn’t talk to Keisuke much because he didn’t know enough English while Keisuke didn’t know any Italian — basically I just had to write a language barrier fic about them, okay?

Adil talks a lot.  _A lot_. Keisuke tries to keep up with him, and most of the time it is enough.  
  
Adil babbles on with his heavily accented English. Sometimes he forgets the words and shoots a pleading look to Keisuke, like he is supposed to know what his friend is trying to say.  
  
“I don’t get it,” Keisuke tells him with a laugh, and smacks him over the head gently.  
  
There was a time – in the winter, back when they had just joined Milan – when Keisuke still tried to be polite with Adil: apologize and ask him to repeat himself whenever he did not understand something.   
  
Somewhere along the line he has come to realize most of the stuff Adil says does not make sense no matter how many times he repeats himself.  
  
There are lots of things about Adil that do not make sense to Keisuke.  
  
Adil snorts and switches to animated Italian. Keisuke only catches two, three, four words from the whole tirade. Adil is looking at him triumphantly, and Keisuke tells him in Japanese that he is being an idiot.  
  
“I’m not stupid!” Adil protests immediately, obviously enjoying Keisuke’s shocked expression, “You called me a  _baka_  just now, didn’t you?”  
  
Keisuke thinks he should feel flattered that Adil is apparently trying to learn Japanese for his sake, but instead he just rolls his eyes and tells Adil he should stop picking up useless vocabulary from that anime he secretly watches.  
  
“I know one more,” Adil flashes him a wide smile and pinches Keisuke’s cheek playfully, “I know you’re  _kawaii_.”  
  
His pronunciation is way off, but Keisuke does not have the heart to tell him that, not when Adil is beaming at him so happily. He has obviously been waiting for a chance to show off his newly-acquired Japanese skills.  
  
“I’m not cute,” Keisuke deadpans as he gets up from the lunch table, but he still ends up returning Adil’s smile hesitantly, “But thanks. For learning it.”  
  
“Anything for my Keisuke,” Adil tells him happily, and Keisuke is fairly sure the word ‘my’ does not work in this context. But maybe it is something Adil takes from French, so Keisuke decides not to comment on it, just like Adil never teases him about his own mistakes.  
  
Keisuke leaves Adil to finish his lunch on his own, because he needs to meet his fitness coach before the afternoon training.  
  
He still has no idea when it became just the two of them. Or  _why_.  
  
When Keisuke first joined Milan, they barely spoke to one another, the language barrier too big of an obstacle to cross right away. Most of the time Adil did not even bother with English, sticking with Italian or French, expecting their teammates to translate the important parts to Keisuke.  
  
Most of the time it had been Kakà and Riccardo acting as interpreters, sometimes Philippe, patiently explaining to Keisuke everything he needed to know.  
  
It was only after the summer break – after the World Cup – that Adil started spending time with Keisuke on his own accord.  
  
Maybe it was because there was no Kakà or Riccardo to translate for them anymore. Or maybe it was because Adil was feeling left out after Kevin’s transfer, with Philippe hogging Jérémy all to himself.  
  
One reason or another, Adil had started making an effort to practice his English with Keisuke.  
  
And along with the unexpected friendship came all the rest: friendly teasing, casual intimacy, random hugs, and the unintelligible rambles that could as well be gibberish to Keisuke.  
  
It was all part of the package that was Adil Rami, Keisuke had figured after a while.  
  
The random Japanese compliments seem to be a new part of the same package, he comes to realize when he joins Adil in the dressing room an hour later and is greeted with a cheeky  _“Kawaii Keisuke”_  and an affectionate poke between the ribs.  
  
“You’re the cute one,” Keisuke mumbles in his native tongue, focusing on tying his shoelaces. Fortunately Adil does not seem to catch the meaning of his words this time.  
  
Adil says something in his jumbled English, too quick for Keisuke to catch.  
  
“I don’t get it,” Keisuke tells him again. It is probably nothing important, or else Adil would have said it slower, making sure Keisuke understood him.  
  
But this time Adil does not keep on talking – instead, he takes a hold of Keisuke’s arm, waiting until Keisuke’s full attention is on him.  
  
“Dinner.  _Gohan._  Tonight. With me?” Adil is speaking carefully now, trying out the Japanese word on his tongue, holding Keisuke’s gaze firmly, a shy smile lingering on his lips, “ _Onegai?_ ”  
  
The pronunciation is still horrible, Adil’s thick accent even more obvious in Japanese than it is in English, but for some reason it still makes Keisuke feel warm – at home.  
  
“ _Hai_ ,” he tells Adil with a smile of his own, and then he gets up and heads outside without waiting for an answer, making Adil run after him.  
  
“That was a yes, right? I’ve heard that before,” Adil jogs up to Keisuke, beaming brightly at him.  
  
“ _Hai_ ,” Keisuke repeats, trying to hold his laughter as Adil catches him into a headlock and tackles him into ground where they wrestle for a while, until Coach Inzaghi yells at them to get their lazy asses to the training pitch.  
  
Adil does not drop his arm from Keisuke’s waist before they are told to start with the warm-up drills. That makes Keisuke feel like home, too, although he will not admit that to Adil anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
>  _baka_ = idiot, fool  
>  _kawaii_ = cute, adorable  
>  _gohan_ = meal (or cooked rice)  
>  _onegai_ = please (or wish, request)  
>  _hai_ = yes


End file.
